Johnny: This....is....Jeopardy!



Let's meet our contestants......A mom of three from Grand Rapids, Michigan, Katie! A software engineer from Burbank, California, Gus! And, our returning champion, an illustrator from Eagleville, Pennsylvania, Jamie Pogue, whose 3-day winnings total $83, 460!

And now, the host of Jeopardy....Alex, Trebek!

Alex: Thank you Johnny Gilbert! Welcome to a very special episode of Jeopardy. We all know how things work, so let's get started with the Jeopardy round. Jamie, why don't you start us....that is still your name, right Jamie?

Jamie: That's correct Alex. Sorry if my signature looks messed up. I had to use the Wii Remote to draw it in, and as you can see, it just makes me look like I have the shakes! It's kind of wonky here.

Alex: Ah, no problem. Let's take a look at our categories.

"Au"ll or Nothing - You'll notice "au" in quotation marks
Potent Potables
Hot Mics
The Agony
And the Ecstacy
US History

Jamie, let's get started. Point your Wii remote at a dollar amount on the screen, and you'll receive your answer. Don't forget to answer in the form of a question!

Jamie: Thanks Alex. Ah this is pretty easy. I might even use the buttons if I want, because it looks like pointing is optional. Let's go with "Au"ll or Nothing for $200.

Alex: The answer: In existential philosophy, a lack of this is equated with bad faith. Jamie!

Jamie: What is authenticity? And speaking of which, this set is incredibly authentic. It's like I'm actually on the show! The set, the sound effects, even you Alex! You all look quite authentic. You read every question out loud Alex, and you even manage to get the Clue Crew answers in there! Your frame rate can be a little dodgy though.

Alex: That's correct! And might I add, kind of an odd answer. You pick again.

Jamie: Let's go with The Agony for $600.

Alex: The answer....it's the Daily Double! How much would you like to wager? You can use your Wii remote to select a dollar amount, and wager all or some of your money on this answer.

Jamie: Let's make this a true Daily Double Alex. $200.

Alex: And the answer is....A criminal was quite upset upon discovering that the safe he was cracking into was not this.

Jamie: What is unlockable? And speaking of unlockable, the unlockables around here are pretty terrible. I won a couple pairs of slacks the other day, and a very tiny .jpg of cartoon Alex Trebek. What gives?

Alex: Correct again! And again, a very weird question...unlockables? We just give out money here on Jeopardy! Select again.

Jamie: I'll take Hot Mics for $600.

Alex: The answer: This device, released in 2006, had Wii owners (well, a couple of them) voice chatting with each other across the globe. Jamie!

Jamie: What is Wii Speak?

....


...

Jamie: WHAT IS WII SPEAK?

Alex: That's correct! Wow, you don't have to be so loud.

Jamie: Yes I do! This Wii Speak I'm trying to use can hardly recognize my voice at all! It's multiple choice via Wii Speak, so I don't even know what the problem is. Anyway, Let's go with US History for $1000.



Alex: The answer: This president was known never to tell a lie.

Jamie: Who is Washington? Too easy!

Alex: Oh no, I'm sorry. ::a contestant buzzes in:: Katie!

Katie: Who is Washington, George?

Alex: That is correct! And quite a nice hula dance you have there Katie. Remember Jamie, when answering, you may need to make sure that you've selected Washington the MAN, not Washington state!

Jamie:What a load.... And wait, why was that the $1000 answer? That was easy!

Alex: Katie, you're up next! And you've been around quite a bit lately as well. It's as if I see your avatar everywhere these days!

Katie: That's right Alex. Sometimes you might spot me in the audience!Let's go with "The Ecstasy for $200."

Alex: The answer: This longest tenured host of Jeopardy is actually Canadian. Jamie, you're first.

Jamie: Who is...uh...you?

Alex: That's correct! Mii! In fact, you can all be Mii's here on Jeopardy. That's right, any Mii you have on your system can be selected as a player.

Jamie: Now who's being weird....

Fifteen Minutes Later

Alex: We now come to the final Jeopardy round. The category is...Fractions. When the music starts, you can all wager a certain amount of money. As a twist, however, we will all be answering multiple choice in Final Jeopardy tonight. Can't let us all see each other's answers after all! Use the buttons on your Wii remote to select the correct reply to this question.

When reduced to its lowest terms, the fraction 49/70 becomes what? You have thirty seconds. Good luck!


Gus and Katie didn't make into the final Jeopardy round, so let's see what Jamie has to say. Your response....7/10! That's correct! Jamie, what made you come up with the answer?

Jamie: Well Alex, it's simple math. And for some reason, I've just had "7/10" running through my mind this entire show.

Alex: Well Jamie, you've done it again, and that means we'll see you tomorrow.

Jamie: I'm not so sure Alex....I like Jeopardy and all, but I'm not the most diehard fan....I'm getting a little burnt out on it. Does this game have anything else to offer?

Alex: Nope! It's Jeopardy through and through. So, if you out there at home like Jeopardy, keep tuning in. If you don't like Jeopardy, well I can't say that we can turn you into a believer. Still, it's worth joining in with your friends and family once in a while!

Jamie: Awesome Alex. Can I come back in say, a month or two? This seems like the kind of game I'll want to fire up every now and then with friends. It's fun and all, but I mean...it's definitely just Jeopardy, for better or worse! I'll definitely be back though. This is all super authentic, and it should be a great party game when I have a couple friends over.

Alex: Well, whatever you say Jamie.... We'll see you next time!



URL to share (right click and copy)

Fantastic review, PogueSquadron. Bravo!

I'm this close to picking up Jeopardy! as the demo seemed darn solid and the broadcast itself is part of my evening routine.

My current rotation of Party Games is only You Don't Know Jack and Cards Against Humanity. I can see Jeopardy! fitting nicely into the mix.

Thanks for the impressions!

Posted by

New Forms

on: 01/17/14, 18:41

Keep in mind I have it on Wii. I'm not sure what the other platforms offer in terms of character customization and such. I should also mention it has no online play.

Posted by

PogueSquadron

on: 01/17/14, 18:43

@PogueSquadron

I'm not worried about the bells and whistles as much as actual content (size of question database) and interface. I think the multiple choice route, while a legitimate concession, streamlines gameplay with groups of players. The last Jeopardy! game I owned was on SNES and I remember it being incredibly painful and tedious to "type" out each answer with a gamepad and on-screen keyboard.

For online, I'd likely never go that route. This is a couch co-op game all the way, and one of the few I could bust out at dinner parties anyway as 99% of my peers are non-gamers (i.e. no Smash or Mario Kart co-op for me!).

Posted by

New Forms

on: 01/17/14, 18:59

Yeah, I don't know how else they could've done Final Jeopardy but I thought it'd be worth mentioning. They could totally do it on Wii U with two players, but even there I'm not sure if they implemented that feature.

Posted by

PogueSquadron

on: 01/17/14, 19:03

Edited:

01/17/14, 19:04

I tried the PS3 demo for Wheel of Fortune and enjoyed it. I tried the PS3 demo for Jeopardy and didn't like it. the whole multiple choice answer takes away the essence of Jeopardy for me.

Posted by

sirmastersephiroth

on: 01/18/14, 09:03

@sirmastersephiroth But it was only on final Jeopardy, right? How else would they do it?

Jeopardy is only multiple choice if you use Wii Speak, which I will amend in the review.

Posted by

PogueSquadron

on: 01/18/14, 15:22

@PogueSquadron is have to check but, I think all of then were multiple choice. I'm not sure.

Posted by

sirmastersephiroth

on: 01/19/14, 00:31

I believe there is also some sort of easy mode in the game that lets you use multiple choice, but that kind of defeats the point of Jeopardy to me.

Posted by

PogueSquadron

on: 01/19/14, 16:49

Have you ever played any other Jeopardy! games on other platforms? I grew up with the Jeopardy! 25th Anniversary Edition on the NES, and I'm curious (besides "time") why they didn't use that method. You had to type out your answers, and when the CPU rang in in correctly, their letters were missing, but some of them were in the right place (have you played Anticipation?). Final Jeopardy you definitely have to type out your answer and "not look" at your friends/parents/siblings answers.

If that were the method for every answer, which method would you prefer? Also, what the heck happened with Washington vs. Washington up there?

Posted by

Mr_Mustache

on: 02/14/14, 01:04

Well, a couple things in case there's any confusion (this review was kind of cobbled together).

1.) There is only multiple choice in the main game if you're using Wii Speak, and I believe if you're playing in Easy mode.
2.) Final Jeopardy is always multiple choice.

Like you said, I don't know how they could've done Final Jeopardy differently without doubling or tripling how long it would take. On the one hand, I kind of want authenticity to the show - that Final Jeopardy is a one shot burst of "Hmm...." and then it's over. On the other hand, it takes a lot of the fun out of things, because sometimes the answer is immediately obvious.

I don't know how else they could've done it on Wii. On Wii U, they could've maybe had one person on the Gamepad and a couple people on the TV. I wouldn't be surprised to see some version on other platforms that maybe lets you use your smartphone to input your answer, but even that would be kind of clumsy to me.

Also, the Washington thing: The game does an autospell after you input 3 letters. So as soon as you type in "W-A-S", a bunch of potential answers come up (kind of like when you start typing something into Google). I clicked on "Washington", but the correct answer was "Washington, George." It was kind of silly. I totally got the answer right. This has happened to us a couple different times, where we actually spell the answer right, but don't get the points. Kind of a bummer to an otherwise solid version of Jeopardy.

Posted by

PogueSquadron

on: 02/14/14, 02:25

@PogueSquadron

This game IS on Wii U, isn't it? I'm pretty sure Lou bought it..?

I'm envisioning you writing (not typing) your answer in..but then I just realized that the computer wouldn't be able to read what you wrote

Posted by

Mr_Mustache

on: 02/14/14, 02:47

It's on Wii U, but from what I understand has little to no Wii U functionality. I don't think it even lets you use your Miis, which I think is why we got the Wii version in the first place.

If there was a touch screen, they could totally do handwriting recognition. They've been doing it on DS for years. It'd be great if Wii Speak worked better though. THAT would be great.

Posted by

PogueSquadron

on: 02/14/14, 03:04

@PogueSquadron

MAYBE KINECT JEOPARDY HAS THAT.

Posted by

Mr_Mustache

on: 02/14/14, 04:38

I like this review. The alternative structure works really well here.
Clever stuff.

Posted by

Super_Conzo

on: 02/15/14, 00:10

The Wii version has it. It's just implemented terribly from what I've read (more likely to Wii Speak just being awful).

Posted by

PogueSquadron

on: 02/15/14, 01:36